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Howto Configure Screenlets to Work with Compiz Widgets tool in Ubuntu 10.04

Linux stuff below….

Screenlets are a cool widget layer for linux. They are great little apps that provide a ton of great information, however they can easily add clutter to your desktop. This howto will show you how to install screenlets and configure them to appear and dissapear with a keystroke. Similar to the f12 widgets available on an OSX box.

This assumes that you are running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and have compiz installed and configured correctly.

The end result will allow you to hit a special key combo (in this case Win+Space) to pull up an overlay of widgets and assume focus until the key combo is hit again. Its a great way to check something quickly, or even enter a command in a terminal window. Below is a screenshot of my desktop after hitting the key combo.

1) First off install screenlets and the compiz fusion tray icon.

sudo apt-get install screenlets fusion-icon

2) Launch screenlets and fusion-icon and you should see the following two icons in your system tray. You can also add these both to startup in the gnome-startup-applications tool.

3) Right click on the screenlets icon and start the screenlets manager and pick something to run. Just try the clock icon for now. Configure the clock to Start and auto start at login.

4) You should see the clock appear on your desktop. Then right click on the fusion-icon and click settings manager. Find the widget later plugin and click on it. Click on behavior. Enter the following in the “Widget Windows” box.

type=Toolbar

I also have the “title=BACKGROUND” set so I can use a Terminal Profile in the background.

Click the general tab to configure what keyboard / mouse combos you want to kick off your widgets.

5) Try out your key combos. The clock should appear and disappear as you hit the combo. Now go back and configure more screenlets to to run in the background.